Purposeful careers: Would you do your job for free?

What does a meaningful career mean to you? What do you really want from your career? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? What motivates you? Eloise Brauer, Senior Manager, Talent Development, talks about how to eliminate self-limiting beliefs, move toward your true passions and reach your fullest potential.

The journey of your career begins and ends with you. So, what is a career for you? Is it the way you move through your professional life, the way you advance in a certain company or sector, or is it finding fulfilment in your daily work? Here’s the thing: when it comes to your personal career, there is no wrong answer. A career is a deeply individual, subjective experience. So how do you grow, move forward, or find meaning in yours?

Understand the landscape of a career

The way people work, develop and move between jobs nowadays is very different than it was in the past. The likelihood that you will be given a clear career path for the next 5 to 10 years is small and the idea that the only fulfilling career is one that is moving up the corporate ladder is outdated.

How you choose to navigate through the landscape of career opportunities will define your career, says Eloise.

Far more relevant today is finding fulfilment in the landscape of the career opportunities you are presented with throughout your life. Opportunities such as a new project assignment, learnings, experience working in a different company or role, exposure to feedback, and so on are all part of the career landscape.

How you choose to navigate through the landscape will define your career. But building a fulfilling career requires mindful decisions for or against when an opportunity comes your way. Becoming more mindful of the decisions you take in your career starts with you – knowing what you want, what you offer and where your journey is going.

Know what you want

Knowing what you want from your career isn’t only about setting a goal for a specific salary or title you aspire for. Knowing what you want in your career is about knowing what you want from your life and how you want your career to play a role within your life.

So, what do you want from your life? What do you want from your career?

Building a fulfilling career requires mindful decisions for or against when an opportunity comes your way.

Eloise Brauer

For some, the answers to these questions are easy. While others may find the answers to these questions more difficult. Regardless of where you are, discovering what you truly want is a core part of building a career that is fulfilling to you and your personal ambitions.

Know your strengths

A common belief is that a strength is something you are naturally good at. And at times that may be true, but at Delivery Hero we challenge this perception by acknowledging that a strength is more importantly something you enjoy. Our belief is that if you truly enjoy something then you will become good at it because you want to be good at it.

For example, I have an analytical mind, but I don’t necessarily enjoy creating and running reports. So while I may have the natural skill to be a good analyst, I don’t enjoy it and therefore, have not chosen to pursue it in my career. On the flip side, I love helping people grow and therefore I regularly put effort into developing my coaching and training skills and more readily offer those skills to my team and others.

So, what do you want from your life? What do you want from your career?

Whether you feel stuck in your job or simply want to have an idea of how you might progress, think about the parts of your job that you enjoy. This could be as big or as small as you like but will give you an idea of which environments you thrive in, how you like to work, or when you find your flow. You’re likely to find these aspects in many different jobs, but you can’t start looking for them unless you know what you’re looking for.

Remember it’s your journey

Knowing your strengths and understanding what you want from your career are key steps to consider when navigating your career landscape. But remember your career is a journey, and as you grow and evolve the opportunities you say yes to today may not be the same ones you would say yes to tomorrow.

Continually taking time to gain perspective, learn and understand yourself will help ensure your journey reflects who you are. Through goal setting, ongoing feedback, trainings, coachings and more, at Delivery Hero, we empower our people to grow themselves and discover their career.

Finally, remember the journey is yours. Don’t let other people’s paths influence the way you think about or value your own. The goal could be to simply be happy with where you are at this very moment. What opportunities will you say yes to today?